On Election 2013: An Open Letter to Texas Conservatives

For a righteous man may fall seven times
And rise again,
But the wicked shall fall by calamity.
Proverbs 24:16

My fellow Texans,

I woke up this morning in a state of fatalistic resignation.  I almost did a post linking to the movie Jeremiah.    Then I read this piece in today's American Spectator:

Arnold Schwarzenegger won re-election handily in 2006, defeating his hapless opponent Phil Angelides by a 56% to 38.9% margin. Yet this sizable win was a meaningless victory for the GOP. Similarly, Chris Christie’s thumping victory on Tuesday night over an equally forgettable candidate contains almost no national meaning, save that Chris Christie is good for Chris Christie. Like Schwarzenegger, Christie cruised to re-election not as a real Republican but as a preening non-partisan moderate. Like Schwarzenegger, Christie’s popularity hasn’t translated into any support for Republicans in his own legislature.

Which raises the question: How could Christie turn blue states red nationwide if he can’t turn his own legislature red?

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Like Schwarzenegger, Christie is a useful idiot for the Democrats—a needy, politically correct, ruling-class Republican who is trending liberal on everything from “climate change” to gay marriage to size-of-government issues. Christie loves the liberal limelight—a trait that will only intensify over time. The Democrats know a Trojan Horse when they see one.

Of course, establishment Republicans—the same geniuses who parachuted Schwarzenegger into office to the long-term detriment of their party—will ooh and ahh over Christie’s victory and argue that Tuesday’s results, in which the moderate in New Jersey won and the conservative in Virginia lost, illustrate the wisdom of ideological flexibility and the value of distance from the Tea Party. Never mind that Cuccinelli, who ran a lame and scared campaign, had made a point of avoiding Ted Cruz, even though it was Cruz’s brave stance against Obamacare and the consequences of its buffoonish rollout that ended up making the race much closer than anyone expected.

“In the clearest sign yet of the potent effect of the government shutdown on the Virginia governor’s race, Republican Ken Cuccinelli avoided being photographed with Ted Cruz at a gala they headlined here Saturday night—even leaving before the Texas senator rose to speak,” reported Politico in early October. Republicans who behave in this craven fashion don’t deserve to win. Cuccinelli didn’t lose because he hewed to the Tea Party line; he lost because he didn’t. Had he played up his conservatism instead of running away from it while lashing McAuliffe as a pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage socialist, he might have galvanized conservatives and won the race.

Even the media found it a little difficult to sustain the this-is-a-defeat-for-the-Tea-Party narrative after the Virginia results came in, as they showed a race that the Republicans could easily have won, had the Libertarian not run, had Cuccinelli actually tried, had stingy Republican fat cats donated money to ad campaigns, had Republicans bothered to expose McAuliffe’s radicalism, etc.

Bingo.

I don't need to run through last night's parade of horribles.  In addition to Virginia, Joe Straus' Water Slush fund passed easily.  The city of Austin "Housing" bond passed.  A bunch of other local government debt passed.  So what, pray tell, has changed since yesterday?!?

Nothing.

We've known since (no later than) March that the Republican leadership in the legislature, which put Prop. 6 on the ballot in the first place, is more interested in personal enrichment than sound policy.  We've known for at least a year that low turnout in local elections threatens our economy.  We need better Republicans and higher citizen participation.

Here's the good news: Steve Munisteri believes in open, contested primaries.

With the constitutional amendments elections over, today is the first genuine day of primary season.  While statewide races will get more ink, we must clean out the Republican caucuses in both houses of the legislature.  We need better Republican legislators to drive sound policy.

Concerning turnout, remember the following three words: Identify.  Register.  Persuade.

• Identify -- Every one of us knows people in day to day life who thinks like we do but doesn't vote.  You need to figure out who those people are in your circle of influence.  Start with your Sunday school class and your workplace.

• Register -- Once you identify the people you already know, you need to get them registered to vote.  In order for this to happen, you need to become a deputy voter registrar.  In Travis county, there is a deputy voter registrar training EVERY SATURDAY at the Unitarian "church."  [Author's Note: If some Unitarians get saved out of this process, so much the better.]

• Persuade -- This is the tricky, but really fun, part.  Having identified and registered the appropriate people, you now need to get them to show up.  Regular phone banks and social events (like Liberty on the Rocks here in Austin) are key.

 If we do that, we'll be fine.

Sincerely,
Adam Cahn
Austin
November 6, 2013

P.S. On a related note, David Barton is going to make a big announcement in the next few hours.

Austin City Coucil Lying about Tax Increases?!?

The Travis County Taxpayers Union filed an ethics complaint against the Austin City Council yesterday; from their press release:

4-Nov-2013,  3:00 PM   

Austin, TX --  Brad Parsons, a TCTU volunteer analyst and concerned citizen, has filed an ethics complaint against the Austin City Council and the City Manager claiming that the city is unlawfully distributing "political advertising" in the form of its website materials, including their notorious flier, whose sole statement regarding the financial impact of this bond is "No increase in the property tax rate is anticipated as a result of this bond issuance."  

   
    This statement, while partly factual, is misleading in its implication that property taxes will not go up when the $65,000,000 is borrowed at an undisclosed interest rate.  In fact, the Housing Bond proposition, if passed, is legal justification for unlimited increases in property tax levy (amount taken from property owners) to pay back the new bond debt, plus interest. 
 
    This misleading City flyer statement clearly shows that the City is advocating for passage of the bond, violating its own statement that it is not advocating for the bond, and leading to a violation of state law regarding distribution and publication of "informational materials" which are actually "political advertising."
 
    TCTU founder and treasurer Don Zimmerman adds, "we have actually seen Facebook comments on our 'No Means No!' vote against website saying people would vote for the Bond 'because taxes won't go up, or that the Bond has nothing to do with taxes.'  Clearly, this unlawful city government propaganda is working to some extent."
 
    Another new TCTU friend, John Goldstone, a local taxpayer who has been instrumental in getting the word out that "Bonds Equal Taxes," attended all of the City's Housing Bond panel discussions, wrote 2 published letters to the editor in both the Austin American Statesman (November 2, 2013) and Austin Chronicle (October 25, 2013), as well as giving a rousing citizens communication speech on October 17, 2013 (4th speaker). 

Mr. Goldstone has raised awareness of the failure of the City to admit that there will be an actual cost of repayment of the bonds (including dissemination of the cost of the bond to the voters), which should have allowed City of Austin voters the chance to weigh the pros (adequately presented by the City in its materials) and cons (property tax cost to the rest of us).

 Read the full ethics complaint here.

Election 2013: Turnout UP across Travis County

Today's Austin American-Statesman has a fascinating article on turnout for the November 2013 election.  Unfortunately, the online copy of the article is stuck behind the paywall.  We quote from a paper copy we took from Freebirds:

An increase in some early voting numbers in Central Texas might mean a bigger turnout on election day compared with other similar elections, officials said.

The 15 most-populated counties in Texas which include Travis and Williamson counties also saw an increase in early voting.

The turnout could be driven by various factors, including the race in Travis county to fill a vacant seat in State Representative District 50 and the bond elections in Williamson County [Authors note: AND the City of Austin "Housing" Bond], said county election authorities

Friday was the last day of early voting.  Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said about 5 percent of the county's registered voters had turned in their ballots by the middle of Friday afternoon.

Travis County has 617,629 registered voters.

The county "will definitely see a 10 percent turnout and it might go as high as 12 percent," for the election, said DeBeauvior.  That estimate includes early voting as well as those who will cast their ballots Tuesday, she said.

"I think the special election in  in [HD]-50 is pulling quite a bit of voters," DeBeauvior said.

Like voters statewide, Travis County voters will help decide the fate of nine proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution.

The last time voters voted in a general election that included Texas constitutional amendments was 2011, when there was an 8.73% turnout in Travis County, DeBeauvior said.

This is good news.  The Special interest vote caps out somewhere around 5%.  Anything above that is people turning out who don't have a direct financial stake in the election.

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Election Day proper is TOMORROW.  Remember, on election day proper you must vote in the assigned polling place for your precinct.  Travis County elections has a list here.

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You can find our Voter Guide here.

Austin Housing advocates campaign against...Ted Cruz?!?

Admitting their weakness, the following flyer from Keep Austin "Affordable" just arrived:

Text: Radical right wing extremists don't want our government to succeed -- period.  They tried to shut down Washington.

The same reactionary forces oppose expanding health insurance and education in Texas.

They even oppose Austin Affordable Housing Bonds.

 [Author's Note: That these people believe temporarily furloughing 17% of the federal workforce equals 'shutting down the country' is a topic for another day.]

Normally, these people run touchy-feely, hopey-changey, psuedo-positive campaigns; that they're resorting to terms like 'radical right wing extremists' and 'reactionary forces' demonstrates that they're scared.

Austin/Travis County November 2013 Conservative Voter Guide

The fall 2013 off-year election is here.  Early voting began this morning and continues through next Friday.  Election day proper is November 5.

Off year elections are always low-turnout affairs that maximize the special interest vote; that's why the powers that be use them to sneak through crap that would never make it through if people were paying attention.

With that in mind, Cahnman's Musings issues the following recommendations if you're voting in the City of Austin or Travis County:

State of Texas Constitutional Amendments:

• AGAINST Prop. 6 --  Prop. 6 is Joe Straus' Water Slush Fund.  Austin insiders are using the current drought as a smokescreen to divert $2 Billion to their cronies.  Send a message to Texas House Republicans.

Texas House HD-50 Special Election:

• Mike VanDeWalle -- Mike VanDeWalle is in no way, shape, or form an endorsed candidate of Cahnman's Musings.  We strongly suspect VanDeWalle is a vote for Joe Straus.  That being said, the Democrats in this race are friggin' crazy.

City of Austin Housing Bond

• AGAINST Prop 1 -- Last year, Austin voters rejected tens of millions in debt in service of some vaguely worded 'Affordable Housing' initiative.  This year, the same corrupt group of insiders is trying again.  Teach the politicians: No means NO!!!

Cahnman's Musings cannot over-stress the importance of voting in this election.  Off year elections are deliberately designed to be low-turnout affairs that maximize the special interest vote.  Get off your butt and go vote.

Austin Chronicle tells a Bald-Faced Lie

From today's write-up on the Austin Housing Boondoggle:

It's these types of public exchanges that are making affordable housing advocates nervous. Last year, a $78.3 million bond election failed by just 7,000 votes – and that was without any organized opposition. This time around, with a $65 million bond proposition on the ballot, a group called Travis County Taxpayers Union has organized against the measure. And though it's a low-budget opposition campaign – basically a one-man-band run by Don Zimmerman, a libertarianish Republican who's made a few runs for public office – it carries all the bells and whistles (a "taxpayer rape whistle," to be precise) designed to get Zimmerman's political brethren riled up, no matter how offensive the tactics. In last year's bond election, the Taxpayers Union did not specifically target the housing bond; rather, it put all its marbles into defeating the proposed medical school, which won handily. So maybe the group's losing track record will bring housing advocates some luck at the polls this year.

[Emphasis Ours]

The Chronicle conveniently omits TCTU's victory against two Austin ISD bonds earlier this year; nor to they mention the TCTU lawsuit that has the other two bond propositions on ice at the 3rd Court of Appeals.

Or maybe the Austin Chronicle fails to read their own paper.

But hey, why accurately cite history from five months ago when there's a narrative to push?!?

Laundered taxpayer money promoting Austin 'Housing' Bond

From a Travis County Taxpayers Union press advisory:

Travis County Taxpayers Union (TCTU) expresses concern that taxpayer funds are being used to lobby local voters to vote for the unaffordable Austin Housing Bond on the November ballot.   In the period of March – September, 2013, $103,000 of public funds were laundered through “Foundation Communities”, a 501c3 corporation (the same IRS designation as churches) to promote and sell City of Austin affordable housing bonds.  

There’s further concern with a “non-profit” receiving large sums of public tax dollars that pays exorbitant compensation to its Executive Director ($164,000/yr), and has an extravagant executive payroll of $638,000 (2011).  

Tax exempt status and public service honor shouldn’t be afforded to such lucrative ventures.

“Keep Austin Affordable” is a corporately funded Political Action Committee, created to promote City of Austin UNaffordable housing bonds.  Public filings reveal so called “non-profit” corporate contributions of over $146,000 to fund campaign staffers and other expenses to sell the public on $65 million (plus undisclosed interest payments) in new government debt.  

Links to these reports are below:

Mid-year report (July 15^th, 2013)

30-day report (Oct. 7^th, 2013)

Here are a few of these leading taxpayer subsidized 501-c-3 corporations, from IRS Form 990 reports, publicly available at www.guidestar.org,